In-form striker’s next step to securing Liverpool future continues to elude him

Taiwo Awoniyi faces a series of hurdles to put him in contention for a long-term future at Liverpool, and despite his sensational form one continues to thwart him.

It is fair to say Awoniyi’s chances to establishing himself on Merseyside have been bleak since he made the £400,000 move from the Imperial Soccer Academy in 2015.

Not immediately eligible for a UK work permit, the Nigerian has been loaned out to FSV Frankfurt, NEC Nijmegen, Royal Excel Mouscron, KAA Gent and back to Mouscron over the past four seasons.

Needing to play regular first-team football, ideally in the Champions League or Europa League, as well as being a fixture on the international stage, to qualify, Awoniyi’s hopes have been slim.

While his half-season spell with Gent was a troubled one, the striker did sign a new long-term contract with Liverpool before departing last summer.

And now he has returned to Mouscron for the remainder of the campaign, the form that has seen him scored six and assist two in seven games so far in the Belgian First Division A has sparked renewed hopes for his future.

Awoniyi was widely tipped to be named in the latest Nigeria squad for the March international break, which would have pushed him closer towards eligibility in the eyes of the UK Home Office.

But this has now been quashed as the 21-year-old failed to make Gernot Rohr’s 23-man squad to take on the Seychelles and Egypt later this month: